Foolish is the Man who Challenges Love
by WishingDreamer5
Summary: Lord Squall Leon Leonhart arranges a ball to choose a suitable lady to marry. However, these things never go as planned and before he knows what hits him, he's signed a horrible contract; if he can manage to live with Cid and his five beautiful daughters for 3 months, he's worthy to marry one of Cid's daughters. If not... Let's just not go there. Will he succeed? -Multiple pairings
1. Smile

**A/N: This is my take on Wishing-Fire's AU Challenge. I can only write 150 words per chapter, so I'm sorry for the shortness. I know I said I'd finish my ongoing stories first, but I just need to write little drabbles, or I'll lose my mind. XD So I thought that this was a good alternative until it's summer vacation. Hope you guys will enjoy this. Mind you, this will have a pairing, but I haven't made up my mind yet about who I'm going to pair up with Squall, so we'll see where the story will take us. :)**

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**1. Smile**

People often told him that even from the moment he was born, he'd had a dazzling smile. However, the older he got, the less he smiled. Not because it was beaten out of his system. On the contrary; his father, Lord Laguna Loire, was the most cheerful man ever.

If it hadn't been for the fact that father and son looked so much alike, people would've thought that Squall was adopted. They would never say that in front of him, obviously.

Of course, that didn't mean that Squall had a heart of steel (even though sometimes it really looked like it). There were some rare occasions in which he allowed himself to smile and enjoy the moment, even if it was only for a second or two.

Thus, Laguna had taken it upon himself to make his son smile more often. And he'd go _very_ far to achieve this goal…


	2. Eternity

**A/N: To speed up things a little, I'll work with flashbacks when it comes to Squall's childhood.  
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**Special thanks: melissal58. :)  
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**2. Eternity**

"Over my _dead _body."

Sometimes Squall wondered if his father wanted Squall to hate him for all eternity. If so, he was doing a pretty good job so far.

"But-"

"No! I am not ready to deal with this."

And if this man thought that he was ever going to be ready to throw a party to find a _wife_ (the word alone disgusted him), he was horribly mistaken.

"What's so bad about this? It's how I met your mother too," Laguna said softly.

"Well… I am not you," Squall said, crossing his arms defiantly.

Suddenly, something in Lord Laguna's eyes changed. "Well tough luck then, young man, because you have no choice. I gave you five years to find someone yourself. You failed. There _will _be a ball here by the end of the month, and you _will _find your significant other. End of discussion."

"We'll see about that."


	3. Rivalry

**A/N: Special thanks: :)  
**

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**3. Rivalry**

Only three days later, the now thoroughly annoyed man got a not so unexpected visit of Radiant Garden's best dressmaker. Because according to Laguna, Squall had to look _absolutely irresistible_ for the upcoming ball. A new outfit would help…apparently.

That man was _evil_.

"You seem like you have a lot on your mind," Aerith the dressmaker noted casually.

Squall made a non-committal sound. She was right, but he didn't know how much he could tell her. They were close friends, but unfortunately, Squall's rival was a good friend of the beautiful Aerith too.

Thinking of Cloud Strife alone was enough to make his blood boil. Honestly, what did that blond Chocobo butthead have that made everyone like him so much?

Squall had finally relented to the idea of throwing a ball on his twenty-fifth birthday, but if Laguna had dared to invite that jerk too, he was out for sure.


	4. Judgement

**A/N: A special thank you to: sdoniczx. :)**

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**4. Judgement**

The brunet man breathed in through his nose, counted to three in his head, then exhaled slowly, waiting for his father to say something. The moment of judgement was there and Squall didn't like it one bit. For a moment, a hopeful thought crossed his mind briefly; if he looked like crap in this suit (even though he had to admit that Aerith had done a magnificent job), maybe the ball would be canceled.

But then…

"Squall… You look so _handsome_! Don't you agree, Aerith?"

The brunette smiled sweetly at him. "Yes, I do."

_I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up_, Squall thought, but he said nothing.

After giving Aerith a polite nod, he left the room.

Only eighteen days to go till the big day. Maybe a miracle would happen. Maybe he would die before the actual day…

Nah, that was just wishful thinking on his part.


	5. Laughter

**A/N: A special thank you to: shealakiah and PrincessofBadLuck. :)**

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**5. Laughter**

Every time Squall heard someone's laughter, he imagined that those people were laughing at him and his condition. But even if they were not, it was still rude. How dare they be happy while he had to endure this kind of torment! He'd much rather just switch with one of the staff.

The preparations were almost done too. Only three days left before he'd be forced to choose a partner for life.

He wondered how shocked his father would be if he decided to choose a man, just to spite him. Squall was 100% straight, but some women made him wish he wasn't. Though the brunet man was sure that Laguna would accept him no matter what his sexual preferences were.

When one of his personnel noticed him standing in the room, she stopped laughing at once, trying to look solemn.

…At least someone know how things worked around here.


	6. Tiny

**6. Tiny**

Last night he dreamed that his clothes that were especially made for the ball had shrunk. It was tiny enough to fit one of Ellone's old china dolls.

Ellone, his sister, was married to a general and lived in Esthar with her husband and children. She would come to the ball too. That was the only thing he was looking forward to.

But he was digressing. He knew that these strange dreams were all caused by his fears for everything that could go wrong tomorrow evening. With only one day to go, it wasn't that strange that he was feeling this way.

If only his mother had still been alive to comfort him, that would have made everything more bearable, if only a tiny bit. Something told Squall that she would have talked Laguna out of this stupid idea too.

But alas, Squall's mother had died after he was born…


	7. If

**A/N: A special thank you to: shealakiah, Guest, and PrincessofBadLuck. :)**

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**7. If**

_Oh Lord. Please let this be the last woman who wants to dance with me_, he thought, utterly annoyed.

Some birthday this was; he had to dance with all the bachelorettes, much like a punishment. It was all because he had to find someone to have an arranged marriage with. As if that wasn't bad enough already, he had to attend several other balls in the near future.

He hated his life _so much_ right now. If one more pathetic figure dared to stand on his toes, or tell him how handsome he was… someone was going to die tonight.

If only he could be invisible for the rest of the evening. Or at least very ugly. Because he wasn't allowed to decline any offer to dance; that would be too rude for words. Squall felt like trapped rat.

Then, he saw some movement from the corner of his eyes…


	8. Enchantment

**A/N: My apologies for not publishing this chapter sooner.**

**A special thank you to: melissal58hotm, PrincessofBadLuck, and rushninja. :)**

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**8. Enchantment**

The beautiful young woman who walked down the stairs made his heart skip a beat or two. She was truly enchanting, what with the way the silvery-blue dress hugged her perfect figure. Squall's mouth dropped open in astonishment. Even though this was a masked ball they were holding, it was still evident how beautiful this dark-haired lady was.

When Squall recovered, he started approaching her, hardly aware of what he was doing, and ignoring all the eyes that were following his every move.

"Good evening, Miss. Shall we dance?"

She pursed her red lips, as if weighing the pros and cons, before replying with a simple, "Trust me, I'd love to, but I don't know how to dance."

Squall didn't know what got into him, but before he could stop himself, he said, "I could teach you. It's not that hard."

The young woman took a deep breath. "Well…okay then."


End file.
